December 29th, 2010

We didn't take very many pictures yesterday because we didn't do anything too exciting. We got up, took Jourdan to work, and went to the American Club for breakfast. Lora and I were planning on laying out and swimming a little bit, but the weather was super cloudy and not warm at all, so we just hung out for a little bit. Then we did A LOT of shopping. I bought a Marc Jacobs bag and I love it. Lora thinks it's stupid but whateverrrr. There is a lot of stuff underground here, so we walked through like 3 different malls without ever stepping outside. One had like 5 levels above ground and then another 5 below. It was insane.

We had lunch at The Coffee Club and I had a burger with a fried egg on it! It was actually really good. Then we came home to rest a little bit before going back out. That evening, we went to the Night Safari, which is part of the Singapore Zoo. The lines (or queues as they say here) were out of control. Sooo many tourists and just people in general. People were pretty pushy and rude while we were in the long lines, which wasn't very fun, but the actual Night Safari was awesome. There was a show beforehand that was a lot of fun, and then a tram ride through a bunch of different animals and their habitats. We tried to take pictures but since it was at night none of them turned out very well. So use your imagination. It was cool to see Asian animals that we wouldn't normally see in the US. 

Today was so much fun. We went to Sentosa, which is an island right off the coast of the mainland. It's still Singapore, though. It's a fun, resort, amusement park, beach type thing. Oh speaking of- if you know me, you probably know that I've never been to the beach. Well......

Anyway, Jourdan's brother-in-law Simon is in charge of all transportation to and from and around Sentosa. That includes tour buses, taxis, regular buses around the island, and the cable car. That is where we started. The Jewel Box is the restaurant at the top of Mount Faber and it is where you board the cable cars to get over to Sentosa. Simon was so nice and showed us around the Jewel Box first. 

Then we got in the cable car and the view was so pretty!

When we got to Sentosa, the first thing we did was a luge! We all helmeted up and rode down a windy hill and it was so much fun!

Then we walked around and did some sightseeing. We visited two beaches that were really awesome! Seeing the ocean in person for the first time at such a pretty place was definitely cool. 

Lora and I walked across a rope bridge to a cool viewing point. We climbed up high to see all around the island. 

After that, we rode a chair lift back up to the top of the hill to eat lunch!

I had chicken rice (sooo good) and Lora had what they called Taste of Singapore, which was all their "iconic" dishes on one plate. 

We also ate this, which is shaved ice covered in mangos, kiwis, and strawberries. SO GOOD. 

Then, since Simon is SO NICE, he got an empty tour bus to pick us up and take us to Underwater World. We literally had the entire (very nice) bus to ourselves. 

Then we got to Underwater World, and the line to buy tickets was looooong. Luckily, Simon is awesome and he got us free tickets in without having to stand in line. Underwater World was really cool! They had a moving sidewalk type thing that went underneath an arch shaped aquarium. 

We really had a great time at Sentosa, and it would not have been as fun without Simon. So if you're reading this, Simon, thank you SO MUCH! You are literally the best. 

We were tired from today, so we came home to relax and Josie made delicious garlic prawn pasta. We watched Easy A, which we all liked. We only have two days left here, and they are pretty packed, so we need our rest. Goodnight!

December 27th, 2010

Merry Christmas!

We've had a great holiday weekend! Christmas day was super fun. We woke up and had monkey bread that Lora and I helped make. They don't have biscuits in a can here, so we made it with cinnamon rolls and it was gooooood.

Then it was present time! All of us got a bunch of great stuff- Josie too (Josie is the maid).

Then we started getting ready for Christmas lunch! We had a great time with the Procida's, the Liew's, and of course Uncle Kirk and Uncle Jourdan! We had turkey, ham, two kinds of potatoes, waldorf salad, green bean casserole (made by Lora), and plenty of dessert. We hung around and talked for a while, and really had fun.

(From left to right: Mr. Liew, Brianne Liew, Pat Liew, Steven Procida, Kelly Procida, Barbara Procida, Trudy (Pat's sister) and her husband, me, Chris Procida, Kirk, and Jourdan)

Pat, Steven and Kelly

Adorable cupcakes the Brianne brought!

Pat's hair. Uncle Kirk kept saying something crawled up her back and died, but I think it's nice.

Mabel! She's so precious.

After lunch, we had a little time before it was time to go to Jourdan's family's Christmas dinner. He has a big family. I mean BIG. He is one of 10 kids and almost all of them have children of their own. It was so nice meeting everyone, and so interesting since we come from such a small family.

Getting ready!

Needless to say, we were pooped at the end of Christmas. But Sunday was a whole new adventure!  We went to Malaysia!

It's about a 2 hour drive to Malacca, Malaysia from here. We went early in the morning and had a really good lunch at the Renaissance Hotel in Malacca (actually they spell it Melaka there). They had a giant buffet, which was great for us because we could try all the native dishes, even if we ended up not liking them.

Then we trekked out into the HOT HOT HOT heat to see the sights. Did I say it was hot? Because it was. We decided that it was hotter there because it was so sunny. It's pretty cloudy here most of the time, so the heat isn't so bad, but not in Malacca! Anyway, we went through a cool history museum about the area, and shopped around.

Lora thought this one looked like poop.

We bought hats because it was so hot! Aren't we adorable?

The traffic there was out of control, so getting back took quite a while. But it was overall a good experience, and now we've been to Malaysia! Cool!

Today we were in the downtown area for the most part. We went to a (four story!) Forever 21 and shopped thanks to the gift "vouchers" (that's what they call them here) we got from Kirk and Jourdan for Christmas! For lunch Lora and I had our favorite Chinese dishes from back home- kung pao chicken (her) and orange chicken (me). Uncle Kirk said they didn't have orange chicken here, but I found some and it was so good!

We shopped around a little more before we went to the Marina Bay Sands hotel and casino to meet Steven Procida. He works at the Sky Park, which is a big cruise ship looking thing that goes across three hotel towers.

He showed us around, and it was all really cool! Then we went to the Singapore Flyer, which is one of the biggest ferris wheel (type things) in the world. We got a really nice view of pretty much all of Singapore.

One thing about that though- I have taken for granted how friendly and courteous people are in Oklahoma. Lora and I were the last ones on the pod thing and everyone else had rushed to the benches in the middle, leaving us as the only ones standing. It is a thirty minute ride. Not one person offered us a seat, or even offered to let us sit for a minute the entire ride. And when they got up to take pictures, they made sure to put their bags in their spots so we couldn't sit there. I was really just taken aback by the rudeness we experienced. It's just different here though- people don't smile at other people as you're passing or anything. Everyone keeps to themselves, and does NOT make eye contact. In busy places, this makes for a not especially pleasant experience, because you get pushed and no one says sorry. Okay end rant.
But really overall, we've had a great time so far. That is just a cultural difference that we've noticed and have found frustrating at times.

After the flyer, we shopped some more, got some ice cream, shopped some more, and then made it home. Our feet are really killing us now, so we need some rest! Lora's camera charger doesn't work here (outlet differences), and her computer doesn't have a card reader for my camera, so we'll be relying on iPhone pictures the rest of the blog (probably). We'll have lots of better quality pictures to show once we get back!